Lords of the Earth
Campaign Five

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1000-1005 AD (Turn 1)

 

Europe News:

 

Burgundian trade cartel established.   Ok maybe not, they did send out lots of ships for trade purposes.    Amazingly they ignored Languedoc, which caused some mutterings in the court of the King, but everyone understood the delicate game of politics that must be played in the lands of Burgundy.  As much as the King and Queen tried they had no children.

 

Eire the city of Waterford is founded in the southern Munster.  The people of Eire celebrate greatly after the founding of the first city on the island.  Eire is now open for trade.

 

Wales begrudgingly agreed to become a vassal of England in hopes that this action would keep the Viking raiders of the North Atlantic at bay and the Danes.  Needless to say the departure of the Danes has cured one of the concerns.  Wales with nothing better to do than watch the grass grow and shift piles of rocks around (if they stacked the rocks they would have to pay for field forts and they can’t afford those) decided to expand their domains.   Lancashire agreed to tighten economic ties with Wales.

 

Scotland:  The Great Unification was done and The Norse Orkney and Scotland were one.  It was now time for Harwulf the Ravager to become respectable.  So he open negotiations with Kiev and low and behold Harwulf actually possessed some Diplomatic skills.  Harwulf was granted rights to build a city right across the river from Kiev.   He jumped at the opportunity.  So he set sail with some Heavy Transports loaded with gold and men as well as a fleet of light war ships.  When he arrived in Kiev the King greeted him very warmly. Vladimir.  After a night of feasting and drink (it appears the Russians like drinking as much as the Norsemen/Scots do)  Vladimir gave Harwulf the map of the other side of the Dnepr.  It took some time but in the end Harwulf set sail back to his homeland knowing that there was now a city within striking distance of Constantinople.   Harwulf ordered many trade routes established and he also told Wargar Ironfist to go get some money.

 

The adventures of Wargar Ironfist……Wargar was told to get some money so he decided he would settle some old scores while he was at it.  He loaded up the long boats with some brave lads and headed for Norway (not the province Denmark don’t panic) .  Apparently Wargar had not had a very satisfying childhood and so he had made many enemies in Adgar and Hordaland.   Wargar arrived in Adgar much to the surprise of its citizens and Wargar took advantage pillage the small coastal villages and grabbing much loot, he also killed his traitorous, Dane loving, brother-in-law.  Wargar a bit heady from his wild success headed north.  That uncle he never liked very much live just up the fjord in a small hamlet.    The longboats beached up on the shore and Wargar order the hamlet looted while he looked for uncle red beard.  After about 5 minutes a cry went up among his men…….IT was a trap!  Damn Uncle Red Beard must have known he was coming.  Wargar's men rushed to the boats and speed toward the enemy.  After a brief engagement which cost Wargar 4 vessels the raiding party escaped, Wargar a bit steamed by the turn of events but still a live, thankfully.

 

Holy Roman Empire:  All was quiet in the HRE lands.  Maybe too quiet.  Armies were shuffled Diplomacy in Italy was taken care of.   The only thing of note really was the rumor circulating that there was a Coven of Witches located in Westphalia.  Commander Von Ryan was sent in to investigate the allegations.  When he first arrived in the area there where some gypsies in the region (probably stealing from people, kidnapping children and casting curses)  Von Ryan summoned the local magistrate immediately and had them expelled.

 

Bavaria:  The Bavarian King in a sign of support for his Liege, king Otto, Fortified the Province of Austria.   This could be huge since everyone knows that Austria is the Southern gateway to the German States,

 

Bohemia:  Biding their time hoping some day a city might be constructed or a province might get cultivated.  Such are the dreams of a Bohemian.

 

Carinthia:  Waits for time to pass.

 

Lorraine:    Lorraine and Bavaria are what make the HRE truly dangerous.  The leadership of Lorraine, realizing the capital is on the wrong side of the Rhine and that the French might envy their lands, decides to fortify the capital Province.   They also threw down some small castles in other regions of their Domain.

 

Swabia:   Unlike Bohemia Swabia has a cultivated province and so they are in the process of slowly developing their lands.

 

Tuscany:  Trade was in vogue and the Tuscans like to trade so they are no doing a good amount of it.   Aside from that everything is quiet.

 

Hungary:  Ah the wide open spaces……King Stephen and His Cadre of Lieutenants grabbed the bull by the horns.  Stephen had been a bit upset about the loyalty of some of his subjects so he decided to take care of things.  Though his subjects had followed him to the RC Faith they still wavered in their Loyalty toward him so he fixed that problem.  Personally visiting Transylvania with his son (do I hear wedding bells?)  And sending his two most trusted Lieutenants (or only guys he had left) to Banat to straighten their little butts out on who would rule the lands of the Magyars.   Stephen and company was wildly successful.  In Transylvania Stephens son stole the show sweeping the daughter, of the hardened tribal chieftain, off her feet.  Apparently Hetman Nach was very fond of his daughter and her happiness spurred friendly relations with King Stephen.  His nation was whole, what is next for the newest Catholic King?  

 

Poland:        The King of Poland was not one to lie down on the job, he knew there were potential problems in his realm.  He was locked between the dangerous HRE and the greedy steppe barbarians from Kiev.   Many Forts were built to protect the homeland.  The king also ordered many trade routes to be established in hopes that the incoming funds would support the build up of defenses.

 

Croatia:  Waited for the end of the world, which never came, maybe next turn they will do something.

 

WAR!  CORDOBA SEEKS TO RULE SPAIN!

 

It appears that everyone and their small dog knew that the Cordovan King wanted to rule all of Spain and would settle for nothing less.  Shortly after the Moslems rolled across the border into everyone knew they had been right (why no one sent troops mystifies the GM but it was only turn one, Gary surely would want to get his house in order before attacking wouldn’t he? HA!) 

 

In late summer the forces of “EVIL” moved into Leon.  The King was away trying to secure an alliance with Navarre but his extremely noteworthy brother was left at home to defend the capital and the surrounding recently fortified (FF not Fortress Gary don’t panic) lands.    Thomas de Valera (possibly the best overall general in Europe) chose to take the field rather than hide behind the walls of Leon city.  He cursed his brother for taking all the Cavalry with him to Navarre. 

 

Opening Engagement:  1001 April 

 

Cordoba came with overwhelming numbers of troops.  5000HC, 10,000C 3000HI, 3000I, 1000XI and 2000S  The Kings son Mohamed and Lt. Santiago lead the troops.  The King had put a great deal of trust in his son  (Look Dad, I have the whole army and I am not stabbing you in the back)  and Mohamed was worthy of that trust.

 

Thomas only had 2000HI and 2000I Along with 12 FF to help save the country from disaster.

 

Thomas really had no intention to stay in the field the plan was to string the Cordovans along and delay the inevitable passive siege.  The longer the war here lasted the more likely assistance from Navarre would make it.  Thomas’s big problem was all the damn cavalry everywhere.     Thomas the brilliant tactician he was lead the Cordovans on a bit of a chase through the countryside conducting hit and run attacks on the Cordovans at night, hitting their Cavalry patrols and generally being a nuisance.  The home field advantage helped immensely.  The death toll on the Cordovans wasn’t staggering but it mounted. 

 

The big problem was burning out the fortifications.  Mohamed cursed the Christians for building them and wished he had brought more Siege Engineers; he was concerned about the potential siege of Leon.

 

For nearly two months Thomas avoided the Cordovans (surprising since he had Heavy Infantry) then one night his troops stumbled onto the Encampment of Lt Santiago who was camped outside a smashed up small keep.   A very large and bloody melee ensued more and more Cordovans rushed to the scene and the night rolled into daybreak.    Thomas’s forces had destroyed several units of Siege Engineers and numerous infantry contingents but there were way too many Cordovans and his troops withdrew in a disorderly fashion back to Leon.  The pursuit was weak at best because Santiago’s crumpled up body lay at the bottom of a heap of other Cordovan soldiers.  He was very dead.

 

Mohamed had a problem now.  He had no back up if anything happened to him.  He contemplated his options.  He decides to press on.  He finished clearing the FF and now settled in for the Passive Siege, which would begin at the earliest opportunity in 1003.

 

…………….Meanwhile in Navarre

Lord Navarre thank you for hear my request for a merging of our two kingdoms.  The Pope could not make it to this meeting but he did send along Father Scalio with a letter. 

 

Lard Navarre sees the Papal Seal and is impressed.

 

The French Ambassador speaks next.  “The reason France so strongly urges the merger of your two house is quite obvious.  The Moors mean to have the whole of Iberia to themselves.

 

Lord Navarre nods in agreement

 

Francis de Valera speaks again.  If you accept this marriage our blood will be intermixed an all the Catholic lands in Northern Spain will be unified.  This will show the rest of Catholic Europe that we are united in our cause and they will send troops to aid us.  France has informed me some actions are already taking place due to the actions occurring right now in Leon.  Please Lord Navarre make hast on a decision my capital will soon be besieged.

 

Lord Navarre contemplated for a brief time and then …….agreed to come to the aid of Leon.    A marriage would be arranged at a latter date.  It was now the time for war.

 

2000HC under King Francis followed by 3500 mixed Calvary including 400 fully armored knights, and 2000 Infantry moved toward Leon at years end.  1003 would be very interesting indeed.

 

 

 

In the Court of Robert the Pious & Other French Goings On:

 

Shortly After the Invasion, in the Palace of the French King.   A heavily breathing messenger rushes into the great hall…….."Majesty!"  majesty!  The Moslems are on the Move!

 

“Damn them!”   “They assured us of their good intentions, their honey coated words persuaded us that trade would be forthcoming and that there would peace between Catholic and Moor.”    “Well I am glad my father wisely instructed me to never trust a Moor.”

 

The King felt confident that his actions would help some he had a more pressing matter that he was pouring everything into the marriage of his daughter to Robert of Normandy. 

The marriage went off without a hitch in 1003.   By 1004 the first son of this marriage would be born, Alain was a healthily 8lb baby boy, and he looked just like his father.  Prince Robert of Normandy was very happy to have a son before he might have to go off to war.  Henri the King’s son was none to pleased with this development since he was currently unmarried and without children……such is the burden of leadership though.

 

French leaders launched a diplomatic effort in Languedoc, surprisingly they did not have to duke it out with the Burgundians over table scraps at the Count of Languedoc's table.   Sadly the French didn’t bother to bring anyone who spoke the same language as the Count.  Count Resoulin was actually so incensed that he threw out the Lt. Gascone and imprisoned Lt. Breaunt for some insult <none of the French really are sure what the insult was though>.    Gascone was smart enough not to start a ruckus (or more of one) and when he arrived in Catalonia he immediately dispatched a message to Paris.  

 

Interesting things going on in Catalonia.  Seems like there was some kind of miscommunication between France and their Feudal Ally Gascony.   The Gascon Prince, Gerard, and his sister, Jaqalique, both traveled to Catalonia.  The Catalonians were immensely impressed with Gerard who at age 15 put on a swordplay exhibition that was absolutely amazing;  Gerard was so impressive that some of the locals thought that that an exhibition of some sort was called for.  Fortunately for the “challengers” Gerard was not in a killing mood so he merely embarrassed them.  He also swayed the Catalonian Court with all kinds of flowery speech.  The hand of his sister, to the Catalonian baron sealed the deal even against the protest of the late arriving French Lt. Gascone, who had been booted out of Languedoc.  Catalonians agreed to become part of Gascony.

 

Pierre’ sat in a booth at a street bazaar.  He watched the street, the Cordovans milled about, it was still early in the day though so traffic was light.  Pierre loved the fresh fruit that was available at this Cordovan market.   He suspected he would be eating here more often in the coming years.    It was always amazing to Pierre that the Cordovans with all their wealth they had seemingly no intel services.   Pierre laughed to himself….. ”Silly Cordovans they are decadent, how could they believe they had a chance to win a war against Catholicism?

Later in the day a group of men showed up and met with “Pierre”.  They had a few drinks and talked about the weather and moved along in the evening.

 

 

COUNTER ATTACK BY NAVARRE AND LEON:

 Mohamed was out on an Island in a way.  He was getting some scattered reports from other area but with the passive siege underway and no supporting intel it was difficult to know where the Army of Navarre was.     Mohamed had been wise enough to have garrisons in Leon and they were charged with patrolling the borders as well so when a rider came into camp at breakneck speed Mohamed knew what was up……. And he readied the army.  Finally he thought I would get a field battle.

 

400HEC, 4000HC, 1000XC, 1000HI and 1000XI  Lord Navarre and King Francis

 

3000HC, 6000C  Along with Mohamed arrayed themselves before the Catholic Host.

 

Mohamed decided to leave his Infantry and Siege troops on the city so that he could keep that bastard Thomas from linking up with the new army.  Mohamed had no real choice but to put Lt. Real in charge of the City Defense while he handled the Catholics in the field.

 

Now this was a battle Mohamed liked.  He was on equal footing leadership wise with the attackers that was a good thing, fighting that bastard Thomas stunk, Mohamed wondered why God had not mad Thomas king instead of Francis, Thomas was a much better warrior.  Thinking was for another day today was a day for crushing the enemy.

 

On the other side of the field the Lord of Navarre and King Francis discussed plans.   Since they were facing an all Cavalry army they would load the middle with Infantry so they could reduce the chances of being out flanked.    The Lord of Navarre held the 400 HEC in reserve.  Leon opened by trying to use their Light cavalry to go around the flank; they got chewed up, as the Cordovans were ready for such an action.  The Cordovans countered with attacks on both flanks with large cavalry contingents, the Left flack where the Lights had tried to swing around had a majority of the Heavy Cavalry forces Cordoba.  The Leon forces on the right flank held with out much of a problem  (Leon had pretty evenly distributed Heavy and Regular Cavalry on both flanks).  The troops on the Left that were facing the very large group of Heavy Cavalry were getting chewed up pretty badly.  

 

IN LEON CITY:  Thomas seeing the battle had begun in earnest decided it was time to break the “siege”.    There were 1000 HI, 2000I and 600 Siege Engineers out side the walls 1000HI and 1000I inside Thomas had no fear of the odds though in fact he left 600HI in the city incase the field battle went poorly.    Real was busy paying attention to the battle in the field along with the rest of the troops when the Drawbridge came down and Thomas’s troops rushed out.  A brief melee ensued and Real routed with about half his troops intact.    Thomas would have pursued and slaughtered them all but….. He was wounded apparent a few of the Cordovan archer Corp noticed Thomas rushing out of the gate leading his men and they peppered him with arrows.

 

 

Back to the Main Battle some miles in the distance …………….

Lord Navarre seeing the Left flank buckling under the heavy pressure of the Cordovan assault committed his 400 Knights to the fray.  The smashed into the Cordovan heavies lead by Mohamed himself and there was blood fling everywhere.    The battle lasted several hours with both sides taking a giving great damage to the other side.

 

Mohamed wielding dual 3’6” scimitars was facing the heavily armored Lord Navarre…..they exchanged curses that I won’t repeat and engaged each other as the battle went on around them.   Mohamed’s fighting style was absolutely fascinating to Navarre who had never seen someone fight in such a fashion.  The two antagonists sparred back and forth measuring each other’s strengths and weaknesses.  Finally Mohamed who was tired of dancing launched a furious assault both blades were a blur it was all Navarre could do to get his shield in position to block one blade when the other caught him under the armpit.  The arm was nearly severed by the extremely sharp blade of Mohamed. 

 

Even with the death of Lord Navarre the sides parted at the end of the day having both lost roughly the same amount of men.  Unfortunately for Leon/Navarre they couldn’t afford a draw. 

 

The troops from Leon City linked up with the Kings troops at dusk and the king contemplated his next action.   He knew the walls of Leon were high and with what Mohamed had left that he would be hard pressed to conduct anything but a passive siege if that.   It was time to withdrawal, Thomas was injured, Navarre was dead it would be along march out.  Sadly too Mohamed still had a good-sized cavalry force which would make withdrawing difficult.

 

 

ONE LAST BATTLE:

Mohamed had been pursuing and harrying the Catholic forces for several weeks and he finally got them to turn and face him one last time.  Thomas and the wounded had made it to “safety?” in Old Castile and would probably continue on to Navarre; Francis had to make one last stand.  Heavily outnumbered he was still on the home turf, which helped (or had to this point).  Francis decided to stand against the Cordovans one last time in his beloved Leon.  He covered the withdrawal of the 1600 infantry by committing the last of the HC to a battle in a somewhat constricted pass near the border of Old Castile.

 

1200 HC and Francis

-vs-

2000HC, 3000C and Mohamed

 

Mohamed’s approach was slow and deliberate, he easily had numbers and there would be no traps sprung on him as the curtain closed on 1003 campaigning season.    It was the right approach to have, and Francis felt as if he had to act in the face of a patient opponent, it was nearing nightfall and if things went very poorly Francis thought he and the troops could retreat pretty effectively.   Francis charged straight at Mohamed’s troops like a crazed mad man.  Mohamed ‘s troops matched the charge but the since Francis’s charge was down a slope he had a good initial impact.   That is of course all the impact he had.   Yet another bloody melee ensued but the sheer numbers of opponents overwhelmed Francis’s men. Night was falling quickly and the heavy cavalry withdrew.  200 Men returned to Navarre out of 1200, the damage to the Cordovans was half as much.

 

Mohamed’s army was exhausted they had been fighting non-stop for two years.  Mohamed decided what would best is to settle into Leon and wait for reinforcements.  He didn’t quite have enough troops to passive siege Leon.  He knew Real had withdrawn to Salamanca but didn’t know with what (he had been a bit preoccupied tending to the matter of driving out the enemy.)  Though he hated the idea waiting seemed to be the only alternative.

 

King Francis and Thomas mourned the loss of Lord Navarre as well as a vast majority of their army.  They also worried about the fate of Leon.  Over the last two years of the cycle they received sporadic information and even arranged for a couple of food shipment runs to Leon.  The Passive Siege was not in effect but the noose was pretty tight.  Everyone knew at the start of the next cycle things would be different.

 

 

 

 

WAR BETWEEN SWEDEN AND DENMARK:  Part1

 

One day in the Court of the Swedish King a Danish emissary entered the great hall.  “Good Lord and King “cough”  Olaf  of Sweden, My Master the Great King Svein Forkbeard has heard that you have been besmirching is fine name.  It is also said that you have been bragging about your new center of trade on Gotland Island and how it will allow your petty kingdom to become greater than that of the Danish Kingdom.  It pains the Lord of the Danish Sea (Baltic to everyone else) greatly that your small upstart kingdom would do such a thing so to prove your loyalty to the King of Denmark he request you start paying him a % of the profits gathered at your newly established trading base on Gotland Island. 

 

The Swedish King rises from his newly constructed ash and wrought iron throne, his blood is boiling.    “SIEZE HIM!”   Wait no just bring his head to me!

 

“What you dare not harm an emissary of the Danish King!”   ARGH!   (whatever happened to don’t kill the messenger?)  

 

“Send his head to the King with a Eastern Roman gold coin covering both eyes, oh and send Nils and his brother to deliver the package, they are trouble makers and we are better off with them dead”

 

……………..In the Court of the Danish King, Svein Forkbeard a couple of weeks later………………….

Nils and Olarg carry what “they” think is a chest of gold into the great hall of the Danish King.    King Svein Forkbeard Looks quizzical at the two Swedes,  “Is this my Tribute from Gotland?”

 

Nils  proudly and unsuspectingly announces “Of course oh illustrious Lord of the Danes”

 

Danish King:  “Bring it, let me see the booty…….by the way where is my emissary that I sent to see your King?”

 

Nil’s suddenly started regretting those nasty comments he had made about King Olav.

 

Later that Day…………………..  Send word to England, we are pulling out!  Tell the Saxon Dog…..I mean King that his paltry offer for the land is acceptable.  The Swedish King will pay for his arrogance even if it cost me my English holdings in Mercia..

 

 

ENGLAND :

 

The Court of King Ethelred.  …..”My lord the Danes are here to Parley”

 

King Ethelred rubbed his chin …… “Send them in” 

 

Danish Emissary..  “Sir  <Bow> The Danish King accepts your offer” Gold in exchange for the lands in England.  We will begin to withdraw immediately the lands are yours, may you prosper.  I apologize your Grace but I must be leaving immediately.”

 

King Ethelred smiled.  The people will be happy.  That along with the Welsh agreeing to become Feudal Allies it was a good time to be king of England.

 

In the following years Ethelred ruled over his domain.  With the Danish threat “eliminated” he went about ruling his lands.  The Celtic church was flourishing in his lands (he was thankful for no visitors from Rome).   In 1002 the Good Kings wife had a pair of twins (identical) Athelstan and Harold.    Not all was green fields and sunshine in England though.  There were some disputes with the Feudal Yorkist in Northumbria.  The emissaries sent by the King felt like they could do whatever they liked in York and this did not make the Yorkist very happy.  Relations fortunately did not get worse. 

 

Anglia was feeling lonely because of the Danish evacuation of Mercia, alone on the island with a bunch of stinky Englishmen.  Anglia did get a pleasant visit from a Celtic bishop and they were receptive to his message, especially since they are feeling a little abandon with the Danish pulling out.

 

 

WAR BETWEEN SWEDEN AND DENMARK:  Part2

 

Flash forward……March 1001 the Danish fleet is sighted passing between Gotland and Smaland the fastest messengers are sent the King must be warned.  Riders arrived with the news just ahead of the Danish Fleet. 

 

Sweden was somewhat prepared to fight with the Danes. The King had order constructed a good amount of warships and some infantry this cycle.  He had hoped it would be used for fruitful activities like making the Baltic Sea and all waters north his personal playground…… Apparently not. 

 

The Swedes under command of the Adequate Combat skill of King Olaf sallied fourth with 2HEW, 10HW,  30 LW and 1200 Infantry

 

The Danes drew up their line with 36W and 3200 Light Infantry (very well manned) and led by the illustrious King of Denmark himself Svein Forkbeard and his two Lt. Ingmar the Norwegian (who was every bit Sven’s equal) and Olaf Iron Belly who was there merely to document the battle apparently.

 

The Danish attacked lacked imagination but was extremely effective.  Rather than allow the Swedes to maneuver to their flanks with their light warships the Danes positioned with the wind and hit the Swedes right away. 

 

On the whole everything was going great for Denmark.  The battle was VERY bloody for the Swedes the lack of troops on their ships was telling.   Fortune itself did not favor the Danes for some reason (in LOTE sometimes things really weird happen that the GM doesn’t at all expect, you are about to see one of them, by all right Steve should have conquered the Swedes this turn and be sitting pretty) .  During the engagement those HEW’s , Thor’s Hammer and Frigga’s Breath managed to positions themselves on either side of the flagship of Svein.  The fighting was terrible and Svein took a blow to the head and got knocked out, DOH!  The Swedish King captured Svein but seeing that the battle was going terribly for him demanded that the remnants of the fleet immediately flee back to Stockholm.  The HEW’s managed to pull away while many light warships sacrificed themselves to stop pursuers. 

 

BACK IN STOCKHOLM:  

 

“Good Lord sir that was a brutal battle.”

“It was, wasn’t it”  Olaf Brooded, “what do we have left to defend the city with?”

 

“Almost nothing sir, we lost nearly all out infantry, thankfully you held the royal guard back in the city they would not have mad a difference on this day anyway”

 

Well we have their King maybe we will be saved yet.”

 

IN THE GULF OF FINLAND : Ingmar “the Norwegian” was cutting a swath through a group of Swedish marines when he noticed the King Flagship was going down.  He spurred his men on to clear the deck frantic to discover what was going on.

A short while later his ship “Wavesplitter” made it to the burning hulk of the Kings flagship.  Olaf Iron Belly’s ship. “Rotten Dog” pulled up next to Ingmar’s Ingmar boarded and Iron Belly explained that the King had been captured.   Shocked Ingmar thought for a moment…..then he drew his sword and lopped off Iron Belly’s head, the deck already awash with blood so Iron Belly’s was hardly noticeable.  The crews of the two ships stood and stared in disbelief.  The Ingmar announced it was time to go the King is as good as dead let not his plan die with him!  We will Conquer the Swedes and then I will become King of the Danes and Swedes!  Murmur murmur murmur…….CHEER!  Ingmar is way better than that fop of a king sitting in Denmark….Hooray for Ingmar!!!  There were some minor skirmishes but Ingmar was well known as a general and the men loved him. 

 

LANDING IN UPPSALLA:  Everything went very smoothly and the province was occupied with little resistance.  The Siege Engineers and the Heavy infantry got ready for the assault on Stockholm; this is what they were here for to support all the light and medium units in taking out the city.  The Swedish king sent out a message.

 

            “We have the King….Go back to Denmark and ht will be returned to you unharmed in one year”.  

 

“Ha!  The Swedes Lie!”  And I will prove it to you he told his men.  Ingmar not know for his diplomacy penned a reply (actually probably a scribe penned it).

 

Ingmar told his men that the port was not to be blockaded and that if the Swedes flee to let them.  A couple of days latter the Thor and Frigga were seen fleeing the port.   The gates were opened and the Danes rushed in. 

 

Ingmar entered the city with the Heavy Infantry and Siege Engineers in tow.  The people in the city ran into their houses and locked their doors but the Heavy troops left them alone as the group headed straight to the Palace.  They entered.

 

IN THE PALACE:  Ingmar entered to find Olaf’'s daughter waiting for him. 

“My father said you are a very dangerous man Ingmar”

 “If that is true then why did you stay?”

“Men of power intrigue me Ingmar, you apparently have the power and I can bring you Sweden if you will marry me”  “Then you will have the power needed to slay the Danish host once and for all” 

“I see,” said Ingmar, “Let us see if you are good to your word shall we”

“Just then the Capt. Of the HI Corp rushed in……”Sir the Danish King Olaf is dead as you suspected, should we take the Princess’s life ?”

No Capt. I will deal with her in my own way”

“Very well sir”

 

 

Ingmar took a chance…..he did not want t lose momentum but he also wanted to secure the Swedish lands as easily as possible since he was stretch for resources until he could get back to Norway (which he assumed would revolt).  Ingmar married the Swedish Princess.  He did leave the heavy troops and the Siege Engineers in place to make sure the peace was kept.

 

Ingmar then struck at Halland.  He and his 1200 mixed troops swept aside the meager opposition and headed into Norway.  Norway having heard what was happening in Sweden was in full revolt, when Ingmar arrived it was all over but the body count.    The Danes really had no chance and the 200 Heavy Infantry and the single small keep were quickly subdued.  Ingmar was named the Scandinavian now.   With the boost of troops from Norway he pushed into the somewhat heavily defended Kopparborg, this area was home to the mining industry of Sweden and thus the defenders were not easily removed but in the end (after about 1000 casualties on the Norwegians part the province was pacified.  There was now only one more area to take in this campaigning season, Smaland.  Through Uppsala Ingmar went (happy to see his Queen hadn’t betrayed him, yet…..) he headed for Smaland and subdued them easily.  Leaving a garrison like he had everywhere else he returned to Uppsala.

 

 Sweden was dead, the King had fled to the last bastion, Gotland to see how things 

Had played out with his daughter.  Apparently they had gone well enough that he had confidence he would not be hunted down and killed now.

 

Denmark lost Norway and a vast majority of their fleet though their most valuable provinces were intact and pretty well defended.

 

A New nation came on the scene…..Kingdom of Norway!

 

ROMAN EMPIRE OF THE EAST:

LOTS of activity in the Empire.  Basil and his good friend Leo met up in Bulgaria.  Ground troops were put in place to garrison the province and Basil and Leo departed with their all Cavalry army.   Ialomita was the first stop on the tour, the peaceful people of this area were poorly prepared to deal with the onslaught of 15,000 Cavalry (big surprise, eh?) and they were crushed but not brutally.  

 

Next stop on the trip was Moldavia.  Moldavia was a little different situation.  The people of Moldavia actually have a clue when it comes to fighting and since they expected they were next on the hit list after the people of Ialomita they actually prepared a little bit.    Basil was extremely confident in his ability; in fact some would say too confident.  He had been crushing the peoples of the Balkans for years and Moldavia would be no different than anywhere else.    He was right but in the initial stages of the invasion and conquest the Moldavians actually showed that even a small force could be a pain in the ass if underestimated.  The Moldavians of course didn’t actually conduct regular field operations instead they with their army of light cavalry did little lightning strikes against the light elements of the ERE.  In the early stages this was successful till Basil wised up and trapped a majority of the Moldavian forces in the small village of Moncastro on the Black Sea.  The troops pinned in died horribly as did everyone in the village and Basil had all of them staked to remind the populous of Moldavia that crossing the Emperor of the Roman Empire of the East was a bad thing. A very bad thing.  Basil then returned with Leo to Constantinople then journeyed to Italy, to check on his latest project.

 

 

BETRAYAL in Naples:  King Rex rose on the First morning of the New Year and smiled.  The end of the world had not come and this was cause for celebration.   Rex reviewed the troops as he  did with frequency, the army loved him.  He declared on the first day of the year that it was time for Naples to assume a roll of importance in Italy.  The troops cheered.    Rex began then to work his magic.  He penned a letter to Emperor of the East, Basil.  Which whose contents shall remain undisclosed but what follow are the results of caused by the correspondence between Basil and Rex.

 

Several months later……in Rome.    What!  The Patriarch of the Orthodox Church is in Naples!  The Pope was outraged.    How …Why….. What is going on?  Does Lord Rex think he can get away with this!   

 

Apparently Holy Father he thinks the lands are his domain and since there is no official split between the churches he will get to heaven no matter which …um “Patriarch” he pays homage to.  Apparently the Patriarch of Constantinople feels the same way because he politely ushered out the head of the Cathedral in Naples.  Most of the clergy in the south are upset about the division of the churches anyway and so it is no surprise that they gave up the Cathedral without much resistance. 

 

While the Patriarch of Constantinople was conducting business in Naples, Rex and his son went and toured the domains that had been granted him by the VERY powerful Emperor of  the Eastern Romans.   Emperor Basil was a brilliant man and King Rex had a great deal of respect for the leader of Rome’s Eastern Empire.  So much so that he was going to rename his Kingdom the Roman Empire of the West (Rex has a REALLY big ego if you hadn’t guessed by now) .  King Rex first visited Apulia,  this land was only nominally under the sway of the Roman Empire of the East and there was concern about their willingness to accept King Rex.   Prince Allecium quelled their fears and married one of the Lord of Apulia’s daughters to seal friendly relations at the end of the fifth year of work. 

 

During the time in which his son was negotiating with the Apulians King Rex journeyed to Calabria,  There he got to meet Emperor Basil himself!  Rex was elated!   In a speech before the masses in Calabria, who had gathered, really to see Emperor Basil, Emperor Rex gave a speech to those who would listen.  It was inspired especially from someone of Rex’s diplomatic caliber. 

 

Excerpts for Rex’s Speech:

 

            The lands of Southern Italy will now be renamed in remembrance of our great heritage we have become……The Roman Empire of the West!  Crowd was going wild of this.

 

            Like Emperor Basil II, I too shall don the title suitable of my rank and position, I shall now be known as Emperor Rex!   Polite clapping and some enthusiasm.

 

            The fair hand of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Emperor of the East Basil II shall guide the Roman Empire of the West.   Crowd got exuberant again and Basil II ushered Rex off the stage before he could say something stupid.

 

Needless to say with all the festivities and hoopla in Calabria they happily joined with the provinces of Campania and Apulia to found the Roman Empire of the West.

Basil departed in 1005 but left the able Leo with 5000 HC to make sure that the region remained stable for their newest ally, the Roman Empire of the West.

 

Back In Rome……..

This was just the beginning of the problems for the aged Sylvester.  Apparently the Moors had decided there should be no Catholics in Spain.  Sylvester was thankful that he had trusted in God and sent a man to Navarre as directed to aid in the unification efforts between Navarre and Leon.  He only hoped Adalbert and all the other statesmen in Navarre would be effective in swaying the King of Navarre and his brother into joining with Leon to present a united front against the Cordovans.  At Sylvester’s age he was concerned with the idea of the Papacy holding land, it had taken it’s toll on Sylvester and he was sure it would be a burden on his successor so he ordered the Papal holding in Italy (Spoleto and Latium).  The Veniceans were very thankful that they were awarded such a gift and rushed in immediately to gobble it up, um occupy the lands I mean.  Once the Pope had reduced his workload he decided it was time to go and build more monuments to his greatness.  He ordered many facilities built as quickly as possible.  He even toured Italy to help spur on this effort.  Sadly though because of the urgency placed on getting as much done as possible before Sylvester does leave the earthly plain many of the efforts were unsuccessful.   A tough 5-year cycle for the Pope at the end of the cycle the Pope was in poor health and resting back in Rome, all the exuberance at 60

 

 

Africa :

 

Zagwe :  Land  improvements are what it was all about in Zagwe the main thing of note was the Port area constructed in Adulis.  They can TRADE NOW!

 

Hausa :  Times were very active in the Hausa lands.  The capital grew in size, the King brought Nupe into the empire as a tributary.   Sadly his sibling was not as savvy when dealing with people and he was asked politely to leave the lands of Kanuri.  Maybe some gifts taken to the lands next time would be a good idea.

 

Kanem :  Kanem was also busy.  The picked up the province of Daza to defend the Western frontier from potential interlopers and they built up their economy a bit.

 

Ghana :  Diplomacy anyone?  Lots of Diplomacy most of it not very effective through no real fault of the leadership (sometimes people get bad die rolls) .

 

Egypt :  Life is pretty good in all of Africa, Egypt is no exception.  It appears that Peace will hold with the Eastern Romans.  A big effort was put into bringing Levant.  Levant was happy that they got the attention they did and reciprocated by joining the Empire.  Many trade routes were established .  One bad thing did happen The King managed to kill off two wives in this 5-year cycle.  Both bore him daughters as they were dying.  It is feared the King may have some kind of curse on him so the King decided to visit the newly founded Shia temple erected in Faiyum. 

 

Tunisia :  Tunisia built many ships and raided the shipping lanes……oh wait this in the kinder gentler Tunisia not the nasty Pirate state of old.   Many trade routes were established.

 

Algeria :  Cheliff was far to inviting to ignore Algeria Tunisia poor stepbrother put everything they could into pulling them into the nation.  They were wildly successful.

 

Morocco :  A healthy nation with life looking up.  The Moroccans agreed to a SFA agreement with the Cordobans, though after doing so they are a little  nervous now that there is a war.   The Moroccans did land the Cordovan King’s princess, Selifa in the deal, which was a good thing (she is hot) .    

 

Kilwa :  REVOLT!

The Heir to the throne in Kilwa had fallen in with the wrong sort of people according to his father and he had abandon Islam for pagan thoughts,  it was a great tragedy.  Apparently the Sultans son had been hanging out in the wrong part of town and socializing with several native girls.  The Sultan thought the native girls were beautiful but only suitable for the Harem and as servants.   The Sultan was not shocked when  he caught wind of the fact that his son had secured the loyalty of the army (approx. 1000 Heavy Infantry) and was going to over throw him.   The Sultan not wanting to become a character in some melodramatic play decided to beat his son to the punch.  Since he was officially in charge of the fleet he loaded up all his personal possessions and took the fleet to Yemen.   (Bob the crew are mostly Yemenis just like the aristocracy of Kilwa.

 

The Prince was shocked….. how could the king know?   Hmmm The prince went and found his fathers loyal advisor.  Yes, believe it or not he was still there.  The Prince asked Advisor Aziz why he had decided to stay.  Aziz said calmly “ Your father told me too” and then he went about his work.  The Prince was a little disgruntled, he thought there would be a bloodbath sadly no such luck.    The Prince took the Name Langalibalele to get closer to his Africa subjects and he took a wife from among the people.  The people who rose to support the new king also threw off the shackles of oppression and became an Agrarian society.        

 

Zimbabwe :  A little local improvement.

 

Zulu Nation :  A little local improvement

 

SHIA CHURCH FOUNDED IN EGYPT

 

COPTIC CHURCH FOUNDED IN ZAGWE

 

 

MIDDLE EAST & CENTRAL ASIA

 

Roman Empire of the East – Middle Eastern Ed.:  The east was very active as well all sorts of going on Diplomatically.  It appears that the Buhwayids and the ERE have settled some of their differences and exchange the lands.  The recently conquered land of Syria and Damascus became part of Syria, Edessa became part of the ERE.   Some money was exchanged and everything went pretty peacefully.

 

Buhwayids :  There were a lot of Diplomatic efforts going on in the Buhwayid lands most were very productive. 

 

Syria: The Arrival of the Hatamid Prince to Syria was cause for a HUGE celebration among the populous and they immediately embraced their new rulers.  Parties and festivities last what seemed like all year and though a great deal of effort was poured into the diplomacy in this region it turned out to be unnecessary.

 

The only other items of note here are the death of the Queen while giving birth to triplets of all things, 2 girls and a boy.  Not terribly shocking she did but a pity nonetheless.  The Emperor is currently mourning the loss of his wife.  All the children appear to be healthy.

 

Persia:  Much money and effort was put into bringing Persia into the fold.  The Persians were Shia but their lands were rich and thus a prize the Emperor wanted.  The Persians however were resistive to such overtures and even though the diplomatic corp. managed to lay claim to the lands it was somewhat questionable on whether it would stick.   Persia did send some envoys to the Ghazi and the Buhwayids shortly after the arrival of the emissaries in their lands.

 

 

Yemen :  Great Diplomatic strides were made and the provinces of Djibuti and Danakil joined the empire.  There is still a decent amount of work to do until the areas fully join the empire but the table has been set at least.    The Yemenese Prince also secured himself a blushing bride, which made the people back home happy.   Many trade routes were established as well.  The only unfortunate occurrence was the conversion to Paganism of the Kilwa Heir.  On the upside the former Kilwa Sultan showed up on the door with a fleet.

 

The Yemenese King had much to contemplate.  He was the single torchbearer for the Sunni Faith and now one of the flock had strayed.  Thank goodness the Coptics seemed civil.

 

Ghazi:  Surprisingly the Ghazi took a peaceful turn.  Maybe it was a good thing no one is for certain yet, maybe it is merely the lull before the storm.  Ghazis worked on building up their infrastructure and warming relations with their Shia brethren the Edrosians.  The support they gave the Edrosians in Baluch should  pay off in spades.

 

Edrosia :  A little internal development never hurt anyone.  Some trade routes were established and there was a diplomatic conflict in Baluch but the Ghazi decided to keep the Edrosians happy so they actually supported the diplomatic efforts of the Edrosians.  Edrosians will not forget this courtesy when the Ghazi comes calling next turn.  Initial discussions between the Edrosians and Ghazi were fruitful as far as introductions go but there is a lot more work to do.

 

Samarkahnd/Chorasmia War :   

 

Letter from the King of Samarkhand to the King of Chorasmia

 

        “Flee your lands or die”

 

The Shah was petrified.  He immediately rushed to the estate of Salik the Defender.  Salik was a renowned adventurer who had won many a battle in his day.  The King pleaded with him to save the nation from the hands of the Evil Khiti.  Salik agreed.  It was not so much to save the lands but because he heard Rusik the Scythian would be leading the attack “rumor had it”.

 

King  Jacillian on the first thaw of spring ordered his troops out of their winter camps and into the field.  The King wanted to Destroy Chorasmia as quickly as possible.  Also because he wanted all the credit he took control of the troops of Rusik (who was not at all pleased and either were his men) and the Defender of the South (who’s men really didn’t care).  While on the three month journey to Chorasmia Rusik was fuming, he had a foul temper at time.  He hated “The Defender of the South” because of his loss at Merv last year and he hated the fact that he was not leading the campaign when he was the most capable general.  “Sure the King asked for assistance and advice but what is a warrior without troops?    The Defender hated the fact that Rusik was a stinking Nomad”  Well “The Defender” and Rusik were playing cards one night and the pot boiled over.  Both these men were immensely capable with a blade or just about any weapon, in Rusik’s case.  Fist, lead to blades and when all was said and done “the Defender” lay dead, Rusik’s dagger through his eye.    The King was VERY displeased but there was nothing he could do.  He delayed for a day to pay honors to “the Defender” and pressed on.

 

THE INVASSION:

The Army of Chorasmia had been waiting and preparing, the pointed defense was out of the question because they had two border provinces with Samarkhand  but some work was done to prepare some positions of defense in what was sure to be a very fluid battle.

 

Chorasmia had 1000 HEC, 1000HC, 2000C, 2000XC  and the very skilled Salik “the Defender”

 

Samarkhand brought 1000HC, 3000C and 10000 XC plus 3800S and the King and his advisor Rusik the Scythian

 

Salik the Defender held the initiative from the onset of this campaign.  Using the strategically placed Field forts and some defensive positions set up in the three months prior to the enemies’ arrival.  Salik’s plan was to gradually sacrifice one fortification after another to draw out and pin down the Khitai heavy troops, Salik knew that the light troops would not be helping the Siege Engineers and the limited amount of Heavy and regular troops would..    Though Rusik constantly recommend to the king that the wide screening actions that were being run by the light cavalry allowed Salik to make concentrated strikes on the Heavy and Medium units the King would have nothing to do with this line of thought. 

 

FINAL BATTLE OF CHORISMIA

Samarkhand  :  Rusik  1500C, 5000XC and 1800 S 

Chorasmia:       Salik    800HEC 600HC, 1000C and 600XC   

 

Gradually the Medium and heavy troops of the Khitai were chewed up along with the Siege troops who were very vulnerable to Cavalry attacks.  Rusik late in the campaign, after the king got wounded in an attack one of the few remaining Field Forts (Rumored to be Salik’s )  took control of the armed forces in and effort to salvage the Khitai  pride.   Rusik actually had a little success, he actually drew Salik into an open field battle near the capital city of Urgench.  Rusik and Salik had fought several times before and both knew the match would be a test of wills.  Salik still had the home field advantage and his soldiers knew there would be no place to go home to if they lost. 

 

Rusik double and triple ranked his XC  across the front, and held the 1500 C in reserve hoping that he could bend the flanks and throw his Cavalry into the center  when the inevitable happens and the XC in the middle buckled.  

 

Salik knew his opponent well but his options were somewhat limited due to his numerical inferiority.  Salik loaded up the center with his heavies, breaking the middle and getting to Rusik would be the way to end this war immediately.   Both sides charged!   Trraaa trraaaa  It was over as soon as the Heavy Elite Cavalry lead by Salik himself hit the center.  The light Cavalry melted away like butter on a hot roll.  It was immediate and it was very brutal.   The Cavalry being held back for just such an event barely caused a pause in the on rush of crack heavy troops and The Siege Engineers who were protecting the Baggage Train disappeared as well.  Rusik sounded the retreat…….there would be another time he was certain of it.   With the king wounded already and sent back to Samarkhand Rusik was concerned about extracting the remaining elements of the army from this mess.    The withdrawal while a bit messy immediately after the battle but since pretty much all that was remaining was Light Cavalry the withdrawal ended in an orderly fashion.  

 

 

Campaign Aftermath:

 

 The campaign has been exceptionally bloody for the Khitai, nearly 75% of their force was destroyed, and the king was wounded.  The one thing that shocked everyone was the fact that Rusik didn’t kill the King and try to take the throne, might have been the worthy opponent that drove him to try to salvage the campaign or the undying devotion to the king, who knows but he did stick it out.  One other thing that appears to have hurt the War effort of Samarkhand is that the troops ok Salik’s seemed to be much better fighters as a whole.   Rusik suggested to the king in the aftermath, while the king is recovering,  that the Chorasmian troops fight an awful lot like the Turks of the Steppe and were much more efficient than the troops of Samarkhand.  This might help explain the defeat in 999 to the Ghazi at Merv as well.

 

Samarkhand did catch a minor break believe it or not.  Salik was wounded in the last battle and though he will recover it saved the Khitai the rest of their army and probably a couple of provinces.

 

 

Kucha/Manichaeans:  (This is actually two positions just linked very closely right now)

Kucha had a big win this turn as the put forth a big effort to bring Sinkaing into the fold and the leaders of this fair land heartily embraced the opportunity to join with their Manichaean brothers.  The King now has a blushing bride and it is all good.

The Manichaeans upgrade a couple of facilities and began converting the Turfan Nomads.  Converting Nomads is never an easy task but the Manichaeans are better than most.

 

INDIA

 

Punjab:  Punjab prepared for the worst,  Punjab was heavily fortified, nothing bad happened though.  On the Diplomatic front Marriages, children and a very friendly Sukkur, made this and excellent 5 years for the people and rulers of Punjab.

 

Hindu Primacy :  The Hindu Primacy spread like a plague across the Indus valley.  None apparently could stand before them.  The whole region is blessed with religious institutions now and tithes are being exacted on the faithful governments.

 

Tarain is at the crossroads of the Indian world right now, their lands are highly valued and would be a prize for any who would possess them.  Might even tip the balance of power if it fell into an opponent’s hand.  Punjab to the North, Uttar Pradesh to the East and Paramara Alliance to the South.  During the most recent 5 year cycle (you thought the Russians were the ones that dreamed up the 5 year plan, it was actually Thomas Harlan, the Russians stole it before he could get copyrights on it) There was much traffic in the realm of Tarain, the Paramara alliance and there absolutely brilliant diplomatic attaché’, Ambassador Neshvee, arrived  (with some tag along) and from Uttar Pradesh Ahindra sent.    Both groups of men spent much time trying to convince the Lord of Tarain that they would lead the Tarians into the future but neither said anything at all of substance.  There was no offer of money, not beautiful princesses, nothing .  At the end of the fifth year everyone was sent packing and told not to come back unless they had something besides sweet words to offer.  Really this was quite a coup for Uttar Pradesh who had some how managed to keep the Tarain Lord from being duped by Ambassador Neshvee.  Ahindra returned home without a province but with joy in his heart, he hoped the King would feel the same way.

 

Ambassador Neshvee stormed into the Palace in Chitor (really the summer home of the King) and headed straight for the Kings audience chamber.  He was incensed, outraged even at the arrogance of the city less Terainians.  They had the nerve, the audacity to refuse him, he would see about this!  The King was seeing some petty landowner who had some issue or another with a Shia worshiper who was caught eating some steak on a stick.  Ambassador Neshvee saved the King from that problem by shooing the complainants away.  The King was relieved until the Ambassador started prattling on and on about the Terainians.  The king thought the Prim Dona would never shut up.  Finally Neshvee got to the point of demanding the king send his army into the Terrain territory and take what was rightfully theirs.  Neshvee produced some sort of document indicating the Paramara Alliance had claim to the lands but King Migrai felt the claim was a bit questionable then his most prominent general entered the room (he was the tag along) and backed up Neshvee 100%.   Good lord thought the King I now know my general is a reactionary fool and Neshvee, well he could talk a thirsty man out of a glass of water, but he had that big damn ego that could get in the way.  Ah well no one ever said being a king would be easy.    Only the King can decide what to do now.

 

In the Court of Sachindananda (soon to be known as Sach)  Ambassador Ahindra had returned.  The King greeted him  “Well Ambassador did things go well?”

“Well my king they could have gone much worse”

“ Fill me in please Ahindra do not make your king wait”

Ahindra got a big toothy smile on his face and told the king how he had outwitted the Great Neshvee and how he had managed to lay claim to Terian.

The king laughed, he didn’t really like the princes of the Paramara Alliance they tended to think way to well of themselves and even with the threat of the Shia in the West they thought themselves better than most everyone else. 

“Excellent job Ahindra, count yourself lucky on this  day because I now expect you to go back to the Tarianians and give them an offer that will make them join our realm.  Obviously just rhetoric won’t work. 

 

 

Anhavarti :  The nation with the most average diplomats attempted easily the most diplomatic efforts in the 5-year cycle.   Raj Ajal  barely escaped with his life from Satava after commenting that the lord of the wilderness area looked like he had some Roman blood in him.   This may have benefited the King though because it appears that the Lord of Satava and the Lord of Karnata really don’t like each other very much.  The lord of Karnata received the Anahavarti King with a feast and assured him, after long negotiations and a marriage of the Raj Ajal to the Kamatan princess, that a Feudal Arrangement would be acceptable.  The King took the long route home.   Noted leader Vijay had no fortune on the diplomatic front in fact in Kakatiya (now hostile) and Chela he left in a rush.  When he finally arrived in Kalinga on the East coast of India he thought his luck would change.  No one has heard from him since his visit to the Provincial Raj’s home.  

 

Western Chalukya : All Trade all the time.

 

Chola : Trade is good for everyone.  In a somewhat shocking development the Raj of the Chola, Araja, demobilized some of his forces and constructed a city in the province of Chera.  Trade was started with everyone.  The Diplomatic Corp was sent to Pandya and in a shocking turn of events Pandya declared that it would become a nation state.  DOH!  Way to go J.J. nice roll.  Not that it was Mr. Martell rolling of course.  Anyway they have declared they are now a nation.  (Note just a little insight for all of you, I was thinking about doing this at the start but decided against it because I thought Ceylon and Chola fighting over this territory would be much more fun to watch.  When JJ DP’d the region and got the worst roll he could get so I had them go NPN. )

 

Ceylon :  Expanding was important for the tiny island nation and so Lt. Sri was sent out to lay claim to some lands.  Sri is a relatively ineffective gentleman so during his short stay in the Maldives he managed to aggravate the native nearly to the point of violence.  He then traveled to Kutch and planted the Ceylon Flag, since no one lived here no one really cared.  The Sri traveled to Oran.  Now the Omani are a pretty proud people and when they saw the 5 warships approach they got ready to receive the passengers of those ships in an appropriate fashion.   Sri not being a complete idiot decided that staking a claim to this region might not be such a good idea.  Sri did a little more exploring before returning home to Ceylon.  The King tried having more children but was unsuccessful (least his wife didn’t die)  The King’s son did come of age at least.

 

Kaunaj :  India needs more cities so more people can live in the Indus valley so the Raj of Kaunaj built the city of Prayaga on the river.  Some work was done to help beautify and secure the realm.

 

Bengal :  Though no hostile actions were taken a large amount of effort was put into bolstering the military, 4000 Heavy Calvary were added to the rolls.  Manhar the worst diplomat in the king’s court went out and landed a claim on Assam.  The King was pleased when he heard the news.  The People on Bengal also became more faithful as well with the help of the Hindu Primate.

 

 

 

S.E. Asia

 

Pagan : 

 

Pegu : There was some confusion as to handle the Burma problem.  Pegu was fortunate that Pagan leadership was pretty passive (See Annam turn for the effects of active NPN neighbors).  The Pegu King left his children with his sister in Rangoon and went to the province of Arakan and persuaded them that becoming a FA was a good idea.  Lin Xiang was sent to Pagan but after a very brief conversation with the Jungle Emperor he decided that returning to Pegu would be a good idea.

 

Khmer :  Rumors of war spread quickly to the court of the Khmer King.  In fact just last week at a tea leaved reading Jayavaman V had been told to expect war and a nation to die so he was preparing for war himself.  A small ring of forts was placed around the capital city  and troops were upgraded.  If the Champans were heading his way he would be ready.  Jayavaman knowing how dangerous it was to have a loose “canon” (whatever the hell that was) around had agreed to support the Annam in Mison when all other preparations were maid.  Trade was established with several nations.  Jayavaman’s son was sent to Siam along with Andrahupta to try to persuade them that the Hindu  way was the only way.  The prince became love struck and decided he would marry the Siamese princess which would have really helped the good work being done by Andrahupta but in a very odd event the carriage carrying the soon the be heirs wife got hit by lightning and she and all her retainers were killed.  This was considered an extremely bad thing and Andrahupta had to literally flee for his safety.  Relations with Siam have definitely taken a turn for the worse.

 

Champa & Annam :  The Champa got moving immediately at the start of the 5-year cycle.  They rolled into Mison and rolled right over the defenses in fact the 600 defenders did not even put up a fight they fled into Dia Vet hoping that for some reason the Champans might be happy with the paltry prize of Mison.  Not bloody likely……the garrison was set and 10000 Champans marched on.    The Annam King canceled his trip to China and stayed home to do whatever he could to help save his nation.  He had wisely ordered the construction of some troops  and upgrades on many…..would there be time.  Mison only took a little over half a year and the Champans were in Dia Vet in March of the new one.

 

In Dia Vet 1200 stalwart infantry actually tried to make a stand against the Champans along with some locals who answered the call to arms but it was no good they all died a miserable death as the Champan King encircle the defenders and slaughtered them to a man.    Garrison was left and the Champans drove onward toward the deciding battle.

 

The Champans arrived at a south of Tonkin called the Pig Run in mid – summer.  It was a flat spot a little muddy (not like rice field muddy though)  where large quantity of pigs were raised.  (Don’t want to get an open wound here you will definitely get in an infection of a very nasty variety.)  The Annam had no time to set defenses sadly, hell they barely had time to train the men. 

 

The sides were drawn up:

 

Annam defending on their home turf,  lucky for them, fielded 1000 HEC, 1000HEI, 2000C and 1000I

 

The Champans countered with…….

1000 HEC, 2400C, 5000I and a Siege train just incase Annam decided to flee inside the city.

 

The Annam King Liao was incensed things had gotten this bad, the Champans had been in a dormant state for many years and never hostile.  Now he had his vacation to China ruined by that Bastard  SriViencene.  Liao only hoped that General Xiang would be able to take advantage of the mostly flat region terrain to save the King from dying a horrible death.

 

On the other side of the field troops were maneuvering into position, in some areas small skirmishes were occurring between probing cavalry elements.  General SriViencene was consulting with his Lieutenant over strategies for removing the home field advantage.  After several weeks of maneuvering and skirmishing the SriViencene had gotten his opponent into what seemed like an acceptable position.  All the cards were played it was time for the decisive confrontation. 

 

Both Kings chuckled to themselves about the appropriateness of the area being called Pig’s Run.  Obviously both felt the other would be the pig at the end of this day.

 

The main battle open with a surprise move the Annam tried to bum rush the Champans and catch them off guard.  The Champans stood in bewilderment for all of about a minute as the whole Annam army ran at a dead charge across the 200 or so yards that separated the foes.  The Champans merely set their spears and waited somewhat non-challantly.  The Annam came full force all 5000 it was a travesty and they died very miserably as the Champans withstood the onslaught and counter charged and eliminated them virtually to a man.    The losses on the Champan side were negligible.

 

So decisive was this victory that the King fled for the lands he had been granted in China.  The Sung would now be his master if they would have him.   With this completely unexpected (to me at least as I thought the sides were fairly comparable except the leaders)  masterstroke SriViencene now ruled a powerful kingdom of his liking.   He had power now; his nation was twice the size it was three years ago.

 

In the following months SriViencene saw his son and sent him home (there would be no passive or active siege of Tonkin).   Then the Champan king sat and waited to see what would happen.  While waiting he send dispatches to the Sung, Khmer and Nanchao assuring them that he had every intent to hold the lands he now owned but peace was in the air and if there was an opportunity for peace with any of the nations bordering the Champan realm it would surely be accepted.  In year 3 the Khmer rolled across the mountains into Mison expecting to find the Annam army waiting for them.   Instead they found 1000 Champan Light infantry. 

 

“Sir Bad News the Khmer are in Mison” 

“Damn it I knew they would be helping out Annam”  I guess it is time to find out what our men are really made of.”

 

SriViencene left the appropriate garrisons in Tonkin and in Annam province and he marched to Dia Vet there he picked up the 800LI that had made it out of Mison.  SriViencene moved into Mison for a second time in 2 years, this time it would be a fight. 

 

King Jayavarman knew he was no better general than the Annam general and that this could be big trouble.  He also knew the importance of not appearing to be a coward, so he told all his troops to pull back to the mountain passes and wait.

 

SriViencene cleared the countryside or tried to….there wasn’t much to sweep up really.

Then a messenger came in from the Khmer camp……he had a dispatch sealed by the king himself. 

 

            Lord SriViencene,

 

                        The Khmer people have no fight with you since there is no longer a

            Annam nation.  We wish to withdraw under peaceful terms if you will allow it.

 

                                                King Jayavarman V

 

Take this message back to you King.  Tell him I will let him leave with honor but that he should make better friends next time.  Also tell him that if he would like. the nation of Champa will agree to peace with his nation for a period of not less than 20 years.  He can reply when he gets back to Angkor Wat there is no rush.

 

SriViencene decided to settle in Mison for the rest of the five-year cycle since it was the best location to react from.

 

Java : Java took and aggressive stance right out of the Gate.  It was decided that as a seafarer Java must gain an equal footing with its neighbor across the straits, Srivijayan.  The Javans landed in Timor and managed to not get killed by the natives.  A claim is secured for what that is worth.  Otresaini landed Sulawesi and after referring to the locals as “tribals” one to many times (some difficulty with the translation I guess) the natives decided Otresani might be easier to deal with if he was cooked.  Otresani was not inclined to get eaten and fled barely escaping with his life, the spear tip lodged in his right shoulder would be difficult to remove.  The King had much greater success he took everything he needed to build a city and went north.  Far north …..To Taiwan.  After some exceptionally productive negotiations that included the promise of a city being built the deal was sealed and everyone was happy.  Java had just secured an extremely valuable territory.  

 

Srivijayan : Their neighbors paled in comparison to the Srivi but they were competitors nonetheless and must be shown who is the “Trader Extraordinaire” .  The Srivi had contacted their Buddhist brothers to the north and asked permission to occupy and build a city on Hainan Is.  The Huge Sung nation would hardly notice the islands loss after all, the Sung had agreed.  So the Srivi loaded up ships and headed north.  Some of the ships went on slave raids to areas unknown and the rest went straight to Hainan Is.   He immediately initiated construction of a city but for some reason The Prince waited for the victorious generals to arrive with loads of slaves, oddly he didn’t open up negotiations with the Hainan Islanders, maybe another language issue.  Finally one fleet arrived with all of 1NFP worth of slaves. 

 

“Damn it is that it! The Prince Screamed at the cowering Lt. Palem.   

“Yes Sir! I swear!”

The Prince drew his sword and contemplated cutting Palem down where he stood……he decided against it and let Palem explain. 

 

Well sir we did exactly what you said, I attacked as told but it was very difficult because there were no obvious targets the area is a huge wilderness and there are no concentrations of tribals.  We did our best though.  During our time on land we skirmished with the natives but nothing substantial until month three when we ran into a pretty good-sized group.  I would guess about 2000 mixed infantry, very suitable for the rough terrain.  Our 1000 men and Sailors fended the hostiles off and fled intact.

Now here is the weird part though.  When we were sailing to the rendezvous point no one showed so we ventured near the other raiding camp (thus our late arrival).  There was no sign of anyone alive.  In fact there were no bodies at all just piles of clothes and scraps of armor.  Oh and a few burned out hulks in the inlet, it was creepy.  Our men didn’t want to go to far inland and so we didn’t, we came straight here.

 

The Prince Pondered, he decided Palem should stay and he would continue on to Luzon, that did not go well either but he did get a wife out of the deal and she was very lovely.

Luzon with its 9RV is a tough nut to crack.  The prince returned home with nothing but bad news.  Well least the Chinese had honored their agreement.

 

Northern Asia

 

Nanchao :  The Nanchao decided they liked their Neighbors to the East.  The Sung had made kind overtures and asked nothing in return except peace.  The Nanchao decided building a city would be a good idea then both ends of the Postal Road would have a city.  Construction on Yi went quickly and at the end of the 5-year cycle the task was complete.  Aside from that nothing much happened in the Nanchao lands.

 

Sung :   The peaceful realm of the Sung stayed that way.  Many alliances were forged with Nanchao, Annam (Buddha watch over them) and the Srivijayan.  Peace in the south should lead to peace in the North.  The army got a complete face-lift but in a shocking turn of events General Zhou the brilliant commander of the Sung died while training the regulars to become elite troops.  He was only 36???  Truly this was a tragedy unless you are the Liao or the Tagnuts who really despised him and in that case it would be a cause for celebration.  A SfA was created in Southern China (thank you wanted to see how viable these are)  House Iiachi is now in play.  Hainan Island was given to the Srivijayan this turn and some lands were to be turned over to Annam but there was a war going on and the people in Southern China that were to become part of Annam refused because Annam was overrun.

 

HsiHsia :  His Hsia quietly watched the Steppe.  The Manichaeans where making polite overtures but the “Tagnuts” owed the Llamist for their existence so those overtures were spurned.  The actions of the Sung concerned them a bit, Chinese lands being off loaded in the South meant something what was anyone’s guess.

 

Liao :  The capital was moved where it was supposed to go the leadership decided to rename some cities, a port was built in Luan and generally everything was quiet.  A good thing when you live on the Steppe.  The Hsuing Nu was fully brought into the kingdom dues to the exhaustive efforts of the diplomatic corp.

 

Korea :  Speaking of diplomatic blitzes, the Koreans were all over the leaders of Suifenhe.  It paid off in spades, the province became Friendly.  The Gateway to the Steppe is now secure.

 

Japan : It is still good to be in Japan.  Economic expansion was the job of the day for the Japanese.  The Noble house seems to be enjoying the peace.  The only negative from the 5-year cycle was the refusal of Hokkaido to have anything to do with Japan.  Some harsh words were exchanged in the most recent diplomatic foray.

 

Buddhist:  The Buddhist, much like their Hindu counter-parts in India spread like the plague laying down churches on every flat spot of ground.